The U.S. rig count dipped by one in the last week to 789 as of May 18, according to Enverus Foundations. The count is up 1% in the last month and up 49% in the last year. Activity levels reached as high as 811 during the last week, which is up by 21 compared to the prior week’s peak.
The count hasn’t been over 800 since mid-March 2020 and 811 is just one rig shy of the average for the two non-pandemic months of 2020 (January and February) and 3x the July 5, 2020, pandemic low of 264 rigs.
The most active operators in the U.S. are Pioneer Natural Resources (26 rigs), EOG Resources (25), ConocoPhillips (22), privately held Mewbourne Oil (20) and Occidental Petroleum (19). Of the 112 rigs run by these five companies, 79% are operating in the Permian.
Collectively, these companies are running 24% more rigs than a year ago. Across the U.S. there are 328 E&P companies running at least one rig compared to 227 a year ago. Furthermore, there are currently 123 companies running two or more rigs compared to 70 last year at this time.
With strong commodity prices, a number of plays that have taken a back seat in recent years are seeing notable upticks in activity. The Mancos Shale has five active rigs, which is something that hasn’t occurred since December 2014. While it had a slump in the last month or so, the Barnett had as many as 11 rigs running in February, which hasn’t happened in five years.